Smithsonian brings Discovery to space collection

CHANTILLY, Virginia -- Space shuttle Discovery is preparing to move into its new home at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum annex in northern Virginia.

By Thursday morning, the world's most-traveled spaceship had been lifted off its Boeing 747 carrier and towed to the museum near Dulles International Airport. Astronauts including former Sen. John Glenn will help deliver Discovery to its retirement as an artifact representing the 30-year shuttle program.

A welcome ceremony is expected to draw thousands of visitors who want an up-close look at the shuttle after it flew over the Washington area Tuesday. The museum is hosting a four-day festival to showcase Discovery.

Curator Valerie Neal said Discovery will be displayed as if it just landed, with its large payload bay doors closed.

The top question museum visitors have been asking is whether they will be able to walk inside Discovery or see the flight deck, Neal said.

"We don't permit that here because we treat all of the aircraft and spacecraft as artifacts, not as exhibit props," she said. Allowing people to walk inside would require cutting a bigger hatch, among other modifications.

"To make the shuttle accessible to the public, we would have to damage it, and we just do not want to do that," Neal said.

Instead, the museum has created 360-degree interactive pictures of Discovery's flight deck and mid deck. Soon there will also be images of the payload bay accessible at kiosks near where Discovery will be displayed. That will allow visitors to have a view from the commander's seat and then float through the various compartments to explore the shuttle. A companion exhibit at the museum on the National Mall will include a model of Discovery's mid deck where visitors can climb inside and see a shuttle toilet (think vacuum cleaner) and other features.

Discovery will be displayed in the exact place where the prototype shuttle Enterprise has been displayed in a massive space hangar in Virginia. Visitors will be able to view the shuttle from two levels in the museum. It is free to visit, though parking costs US$15.

Curators wanted to display the shuttle as it was after its last orbits in space. Some of its side panels are worn and discolored from exposure to the heat of re-entry to the atmosphere, and tiles on its underbelly show the streaks of fire from re-entry.

"We wanted it to look like it had been to space and back 39 times, and it does," Neal said.

The museum also is installing new artifacts around the shuttle, including the payload bay robotic arm built in Canada that was used for missions on Discovery.

Panels around Discovery will explain its historic accomplishments as the "champion of the shuttle fleet" and details about its engineering.

Discovery flew every type of mission during the 30-year shuttle program. It deployed satellites including Hubble, as well as top-secret Defense Department missions in the 1980s with military astronauts on board. It also was the first shuttle to travel to the Russian space station Mir and to dock with the International Space Station.